ABOLITIONIST - SECRET SIX - RECRUITED BLACK SOLDIERS
George L. Stearns was the son of Dr. Luther & Mary (Hall) Stearns. He had successful businesses in ship-chandlery and the manufacturing of sheet and pipe lead, but was above all an abolitionist. He was one of the "Secret Six" who raised funds to support John Brown (the other five being Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Franklin B. Sanborn, Theodore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Gerrit Smith).
During the Civil War, he helped recruit black soldiers for the 54th and 55th Regts., Mass. Vol. Inf., and the 5th Regt., Mass. Vol. Cav. On June 13, 1863, he was appointed Asst. Adj. Gen., U.S. Vols., through the recommendation of Sec. Stanton, with the rank of major, and was sent to Penn., Md., and Tenn., where "he was of great service to the national cause by enlisting blacks in the volunteer army." He resigned and was discharged on Mar. 30, 1864.
After the war, he was visiting N.Y. on business when he was stricken with pneumonia and died there.
Sources: Dictionary of Amer. Biography by Drake (1872), p. 862; Mass. Soldiers, 6: 774; The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns by Frank Preston Stearns (Phila., 1907).
George L. Stearns was the son of Dr. Luther & Mary (Hall) Stearns. He had successful businesses in ship-chandlery and the manufacturing of sheet and pipe lead, but was above all an abolitionist. He was one of the "Secret Six" who raised funds to support John Brown (the other five being Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Franklin B. Sanborn, Theodore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Gerrit Smith).
During the Civil War, he helped recruit black soldiers for the 54th and 55th Regts., Mass. Vol. Inf., and the 5th Regt., Mass. Vol. Cav. On June 13, 1863, he was appointed Asst. Adj. Gen., U.S. Vols., through the recommendation of Sec. Stanton, with the rank of major, and was sent to Penn., Md., and Tenn., where "he was of great service to the national cause by enlisting blacks in the volunteer army." He resigned and was discharged on Mar. 30, 1864.
After the war, he was visiting N.Y. on business when he was stricken with pneumonia and died there.
Sources: Dictionary of Amer. Biography by Drake (1872), p. 862; Mass. Soldiers, 6: 774; The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns by Frank Preston Stearns (Phila., 1907).
ABOLITIONIST - SECRET SIX - RECRUITED BLACK SOLDIERS
George L. Stearns was the son of Dr. Luther & Mary (Hall) Stearns. He had successful businesses in ship-chandlery and the manufacturing of sheet and pipe lead, but was above all an abolitionist. He was one of the "Secret Six" who raised funds to support John Brown (the other five being Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Franklin B. Sanborn, Theodore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Gerrit Smith).
During the Civil War, he helped recruit black soldiers for the 54th and 55th Regts., Mass. Vol. Inf., and the 5th Regt., Mass. Vol. Cav. On June 13, 1863, he was appointed Asst. Adj. Gen., U.S. Vols., through the recommendation of Sec. Stanton, with the rank of major, and was sent to Penn., Md., and Tenn., where "he was of great service to the national cause by enlisting blacks in the volunteer army." He resigned and was discharged on Mar. 30, 1864.
After the war, he was visiting N.Y. on business when he was stricken with pneumonia and died there.
Sources: Dictionary of Amer. Biography by Drake (1872), p. 862; Mass. Soldiers, 6: 774; The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns by Frank Preston Stearns (Phila., 1907).
George L. Stearns was the son of Dr. Luther & Mary (Hall) Stearns. He had successful businesses in ship-chandlery and the manufacturing of sheet and pipe lead, but was above all an abolitionist. He was one of the "Secret Six" who raised funds to support John Brown (the other five being Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Franklin B. Sanborn, Theodore Parker, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Gerrit Smith).
During the Civil War, he helped recruit black soldiers for the 54th and 55th Regts., Mass. Vol. Inf., and the 5th Regt., Mass. Vol. Cav. On June 13, 1863, he was appointed Asst. Adj. Gen., U.S. Vols., through the recommendation of Sec. Stanton, with the rank of major, and was sent to Penn., Md., and Tenn., where "he was of great service to the national cause by enlisting blacks in the volunteer army." He resigned and was discharged on Mar. 30, 1864.
After the war, he was visiting N.Y. on business when he was stricken with pneumonia and died there.
Sources: Dictionary of Amer. Biography by Drake (1872), p. 862; Mass. Soldiers, 6: 774; The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns by Frank Preston Stearns (Phila., 1907).
Inscription
THE VIRTUES OF THIS RARE MAN WERE CELEBRATED AT HIS DEATH BY THE ELOQUENCE OF EMERSON, AND IN THE POETRY OF WHITTIER:
AN UNEXAMPLED HONOR IN HIS TIME
HE SHELTERED THE EXILED HUNGARIANS
TOGETHER WITH JOHN BROWN
HE SAVED KANSAS TO FREEDOM
ALMOST ALONE IN 1863, HE ORGANIZED
THE COLORED REGIMENTS
WHICH TURNED THE SLAVE IN FAVOR OF
THE UNION CAUSE
HE EXPENDED A FORTUNE IN PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE BENEFACTIONS
Family Members
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